Trump Mocked As Critics Claim He Nodded Off During Lengthy Cabinet Meeting

Donald Trump may sit in the highest office in the country, but that has not stopped social media users from giving him a new nickname after he was seen looking as though he drifted off during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

The 79-year-old appeared to nod forward at points during the long session, and viewers noticed his eyes growing heavy right after he encouraged each Cabinet member to list out their accomplishments from the first year of his term.

The meeting lasted for two hours and 17 minutes and touched on a wide range of issues. Topics included the administration’s tougher approach toward drug trafficking, public speculation about Trump’s health, and a heated monologue in which he focused on Somali migrants.

As clips circulated online, many users joked about Trump’s fading focus and began calling him both “Dozy Don” and “Commander in Sleep.” The nicknames spread quickly across platforms as people debated whether he had actually dozed off.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back against the criticism, insisting Trump was fully alert during the session and worked at his usual pace.

"President Trump was listening attentively and running the entire three-hour marathon Cabinet meeting," she said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

Donald Trump initially appeared to be energetic and engaged with the meeting ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

This now marks the third time in only a few weeks that Trump has faced claims he fell asleep during official briefings or meetings.

Not long before viewers spotted him appearing to “rest his eyes,” Trump had already clashed with reporters over their questions. He said: "You always find something new, like, 'Is he in good health?'" before adding with sarcasm: "Biden was great."

"I sit here and do four news conferences a day. I ask questions from very intelligent lunatics. You people. I give the right answers. There's never a scandal. There's never a problem. I give you answers and solve your little problems," Trump continued.

"You go back, and you can't find anything, but you do, you do stories about Biden was in wonderful health. The guy couldn't do a news conference for eight months."

The president then said: "If I go one day, I had one day where I didn't do a news conference. 'There's something wrong with the president.'"

In recent weeks, Trump’s medical history has been a growing subject of discussion, especially after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz urged him to release his MRI results to settle ongoing speculation.

However as the meeting progressed, Trump appeared visibly tired and bored Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump complied, and on Monday (November December 1), the White House announced that his MRI showed a “perfectly normal” set of results, giving no indication of any concerning issues.

"You people are crazy," he told reporters.

"I'll let you know when there's something wrong. There will be some day, that's going to happen to all of us. But right now, I think I'm sharper than I was 25 years ago, but who the hell knows."

Despite Trump’s defense of his health at the start of the Cabinet meeting, his energy seemed to fade about an hour and a half into the session. Cameras caught him closing his eyes as other officials delivered their remarks.

That moment quickly ignited more jokes online, with people referring to him yet again as the “Commander in sleep.”

Press secretary Leavitt dismissed the remarks and instead highlighted what she called his “amazing final answer” in his exchange with the press, which included a pointed criticism of Somali migrants.

"Just go back and watch his amazing final answer in the press conference, where he ripped into the America-Last Democrats for allowing radical Somali migrants to invade our country and steal from American taxpayers," she added, as per People. "This epic moment put an exclamation point on President Trump's ninth Cabinet meeting of his second term — all of which have been entirely open to the press for the whole world to see."

Leavitt continued: "In all of these historic meetings, the president and his incredible team highlight the exhaustive list of accomplishments they have delivered on behalf of the American people to Make America Great Again."

Trump then turned his attention to Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who was born in Somalia. He said: "She's garbage, her friends are garbage. These aren't people that work. These aren't people that say, let's go, come on, let's make this place great. These are people that do nothing but complain."

90 minutes in, the president appeared to be struggling to stay awake Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"And they complain and do nothing but b***h," the president added. "We don't want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it."